311 -- has anybody used it and if so, did they help?

[swampfox43]

This is basically a rant, but a worthy one, IMO.

I have called 311 maybe 3 to 4 times in the past year to report traffic light outages, road hazard problems (glass, or other unsafe road conditions). I, like many people who call 311 are driving while making these calls on a cell phone.

Each time that I call, I give the full details of my concern, then I am put on hold, and then they proceed by telling me to call another number. Well heck! I am driving and talking and don't usually keep a pen and paper ready to write while I am driving. In fact, I choose not to write and drive, and rarely do I even use a cell phone while driving.

Today I called to report a roll out trash container on it's side, with trash spilling out, that was partially in the street on the 800 block of Woodlawn Rd. Cars had to swerve to avoid hitting it as it is hidden from view when coming around a curve. First of all, there are no houses in that immediate area so how it got there is beyond me.

The 311 lady took all the information as if she was going to contact the proper authority. She put me on hold again, then told me I needed to call another number. Basically, I asked her if she could connect me and she could not. I asked if she could call them for me to report this and she could not. So, I just apologized for bothering her and hung up.

The same thing happened about 6 months ago when I called to report a malfunctioning traffic signal.

What good is this 311 system if all they do is want to give you another number to call? Has anyone else experienced this?

[Miesian Corners]

I've used it quite a bit. But seeing as that AT&T now says "my call can't be completed as dialed", I guess I'll not be using it anymore from my mobile phone.

[davidclt]

This is basically a rant, but a worthy one, IMO.

I have called 311 maybe 3 to 4 times in the past year to report traffic light outages, road hazard problems (glass, or other unsafe road conditions). I, like many people who call 311 are driving while making these calls on a cell phone.

Each time that I call, I give the full details of my concern, then I am put on hold, and then they proceed by telling me to call another number.

[Raintree21]

I've used 311 a bunch and they have almost always been pretty good and I've had results pretty quickly. They even came and trimmed the trees that were hanging down too low on the sidewalk where I run. My only complaint is they don't like taking road work complaints for roads that are state maintained. They also don't do traffic lights being completely out and refer you to 911. If it's just a bulb burned out but it's still functioning properly, they'll take it however. Overall, I'd give them a B+/A-. One of the news stations or Charlotte.com did a study on them and they said they were able to help them out something like 9 times out of 10 and were usually pretty good.

[monsoon]

It's a creation to require people to have a Bell South (now SBC aka AT&T) land line. It does not work on my VoIP phone.

[lptk]

Dial the full number and use it anyway - 704 336 7600. That'll show 'em.

My experience with 311 has been generally good. Much better than what came before - it was often unclear which number to call from the gov't pages in the phone book. At least with 311 there is a hub for the info and they can generally route your request.

It probably saves cost over the old system as well, by consolidating many of the low volume call-in services together (bulky item trash collection, park shelter reservations, etc.).

[Raintree21]

It's a creation to require people to have a Bell South (now SBC aka AT&T) land line. It does not work on my VoIP phone.

[Justadude]

I've had a 50/50 experience. Sometimes they're helpful, sometimes they give me the "call another number" treatment.

[monsoon]

You don't have to have a land line. I have a cell phone and it works fine. They always advertise that if you have VoIP phones, services such as 911, and in your case 311, may not work properly.